


Call Your Girlfriend

by yellowsunchild



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:21:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24382747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yellowsunchild/pseuds/yellowsunchild
Summary: Harry finally makes his move on Draco, but gets rejected.  He probably should let Draco know that he and Ginny haven't been together for two years and Harry is very much gay.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 5
Kudos: 215





	1. Chapter 1

“Call your girlfriend,” Draco sneered looking down at Harry. 

Moments earlier, after three Firewhiskey shots, Harry had started to lean into Draco. He suddenly found himself lost in the storm grey eyes of his childhood foe. 

Now though, he was sprawled on the floor of the pub with several pairs of eyes on him after Draco had shoved him away hard and fast, and Harry slipped onto the floor and was now looking up at Draco fastening his cloak over his sharp and fashionable muggle business suit. 

He reached into his pocket and threw a few galleons on the table and marched out of the pub without a glance. Harry stood up, brushed his robes off and turned to the bartender and said, “Mind if I use your floo? I think I may have had one too many?”

The man behind the bar nodded and tilted his head in the direction of the fireplace. Harry pinched out some floo powder and called his address into the flames. Luckily the roar of the flames kept anyone from hearing his address, because he forgot to cast a silencing spell before he called it out in a popular wizard pub, preoccupied from the abrupt ending his evening had suffered. 

He walked into his living room at Number 12 Grimmauld Place and shook his head. “How did I get into this mess?” He muttered to the empty room. He thudded onto the couch and started toeing off his boots. Closing his eyes, he replayed the moment he leaned in towards Draco. It had been months leading to that moment. Months of building up the courage. He threw his arm over his eyes and groaned. 

Ginny walked in the room at this moment and laughed, “What’s wrong with you?” She then pushed his feet off the couch and plopped down next to him. Harry did not uncover his eyes when the slender redheaded woman took his side. She started nudging his thigh with her elbow, “Tell me,” in a sing song voice. 

At this Harry just groaned. Ginny was silent for a moment then said, “Okay, how about this, if I can guess what is bothering you in three-“ Harry groaned again, “-okay two guesses, then you have to tell me the whole story. Do we have a deal?” When harry peered from behind his arm, Ginny was staring right at him with a challenging glint in her eye. Harry, knowing he wasn’t getting out of the interrogation easily conceded to her demand. “Deal,” he said resigned. Then he sighed and sat up. 

“Okay. Take your guesses,” Harry said, not quite sure if he was hoping she would guess right or wrong. 

“Oh,” she laughed, “I only need one. It’s Draco that’s bothering you. It’s always Draco.” She then turned herself on the sofa, so she was facing Harry, crossing her legs and said, “Now spill.”

“Now, you’re just being mean.” Harry whined, but Ginny kept poking him until he sat up. Finally, he was upright and started telling the story, “I finally worked up the nerve to try and… I don’t know make my move,” Harry cringed at the expression, “or something, and he flipped. He shoved me away from him, onto the floor of the pub, and then said, ‘Call your girlfriend.’ Ginny, he thinks we’re still together.”

Ginny patted Harry on the knee, but Harry could tell she was hiding a smirk, “This plan of yours is seriously backfiring.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, I think you might be right,” Harry signed.


	2. Chapter 2

It was two years ago now, after the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry and Ginny along with Ron and Hermione moved into Grimmauld Place. Over the next year, Luna and Neville also moved in. Their combined efforts completely overhauled the house from the grim shell, to a lively and beautiful home. Hermione brought cleanliness and order, Luna brought light and liveliness, Ron and Ginny made the place feel like a home, and well, Neville brought plants, so many plants. Harry had hired a construction crew, and a crew to remove dark artifacts, there was a celebration the night that the painting of Sirius’s mother finally came down. 

It was no longer the depressing reminder of losing Sirius, or the years he spent trapped here, but it was a real home for everyone. Hermione and Ron had taken over the top floor, installed a kitchen to make it homier while Hermione and Ron got set up in their respective careers. 

Hermione took her NEWTS a few months after the battle and began working at the Ministry. She had her choice of departments to choose from. She had decided to form her own department and began an initiative to repair Muggle-Wizard relationships after the war. Ron and Harry began auror training with a waiver to excuse them from taking any further exams. Luna took over the Quibbler, which now had a decent sized subscriber base, since it was the only publication to which Harry granted interviews. Ginny became a Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies, and Neville was now attending school to become a herbologist. 

A few months after the war, Ginny and Harry were at their weekly date, out to dinner at a muggle restaurant, when Ginny told Harry they needed to talk. She wanted to break up. They were sitting in their usual private booth at an Italian spot near the house. One minute she was complimenting the new sauce and the next minute she was ending their relationship. 

“But. Why?” Harry asked, hating the way his tone sounded like a child asking why he couldn’t have dessert. 

“Well, for one,” Ginny said patiently, “I think I might like girls, and two, I think you might not like girls.”

“Ginny,” Harry scoffed in disbelief, “what are you talking about? I love you.”

“Harry, I don’t doubt that, but the way we fell in love, it was an impossible situation. We were both facing near certain death, but look at the way things have been since then. We are basically just flatmates. We haven’t had sex in forever, you subscribe to a whole lot of quidditch magazines, and I don’t think you’re looking for a new broom, and when your eyes wander, as all eyes wander, you are not looking at other women, you’re looking at men.” She paused collecting herself. “Harry, there was so much pressure on us to be together after the war, because of my family, because we were so grateful to be alive, and I think because we were scared. I don’t think we should stay together just because we think it’s the right thing to do.” Ginny’s face had a pleading look on it. Pleading Harry to accept the reality she had just laid out. 

Harry sighed, “So, what now?”

That was over two years ago. After slowly coming to terms with what Ginny had said, along with quite a few sessions with a mind healer. Ginny had left for her training two weeks after that conversation, but she never officially moved out. She used the house for her London base, it was easier and cheaper than finding her own place, plus she and Harry remained close friends, without the pressure of a relationship, they were closer than ever. 

Somehow, though, their split never made it into the papers, and after a while, Harry asked Ginny if she would let it stay that way for bit, while he figured out what he wanted. Ginny didn’t mind. When she started dating Luna, Harry thought that the papers would run with that story ending the façade, but they never picked up on it, and neither Luna nor Ginny cared. In the end, their trickery helped Harry. He was able to figure out what he wanted, go to his mind healer, and even date a few guys. 

But now, that plan was spectacularly blowing up in Harry’s face. Ginny and Luna had been dating for about a year now. The group of friends had bets on how soon the Prophet would take to catch on to the relationship. Luna’s bet was that the Prophet would never catch on, she didn’t seem to care what the world thought, but Draco did seem to care.


	3. Chapter 3

About nine months ago, Draco Malfoy walked into Harry’s office, and so much changed for Harry. Harry and Ron both aced all their trainings and the first few months, tracking down Death Eaters lead to a quick promotion for them both, and now Harry and Ron were partners and had a shared office. Draco was sitting in one of leather chairs in front of Harry’s desk, with his chin lifted in defiance. His features, which Harry would have always described as pointy, looked softer now. His face was still striking: a shark jawline, high cheekbones, and piercing grey eyes. His whole demeanor was daring Harry to question his presence there, but Harry was the one who had requested the meeting. 

Harry had seen Draco around a few months ago, and it was as if someone had woken him up from a long sleep. He asked around and found out that Draco had recently become a Potions Master, but also had a contract with the Ministry. Now Harry, who had his pick of cases in the auror department, decided he wanted to take down a potions ring. To anyone that would ask, Harry swore they were coincidental. However, Harry took the case with the hope of spending lots of long hours on the case. 

The two months of working on the case built a tentative friendship, which only seemed to grow each case they worked together. They often got lunch and dinner delivered to the office and spent many late nights talking not just about cases, but about so much more. It took Harry an embarrassing long time to realize he liked Draco, and even longer to work up the nerve to do something about it. “So much for Gryffindor bravery,” he often thought moments after he flooed home, or after Draco left the office, saying goodnight with a pat on the back or a nod from across the conference room. 

Draco was openly gay, and often went out on dates and second dates, something that Harry was extremely aware of. Now he had to come up with a way of explaining to him the truth. How after nine months he had failed to mention he was not dating Ginny, and he was also gay. However all of Harry’s owl’s were being returned unopened and it made the task a little more difficult. 

Harry and Ginny stayed up for several more hours that night coming up with a plan on how to fix the situation. The problem wasn’t just Draco, but the wizarding world in general. Outside of his group of friends and family, no one else even knew Harry and Ginny weren’t together. The plan they came up with would take about two weeks and would turn out to be the longest two weeks Harry had ever lived. 

Saturday morning, with everyone gathered around the table in the downstairs kitchen, eating the fry up that Harry cooked, Ginny asked Luna if she could hold the front and back pages of the Quibbler’s next issue. 

“Of course, dear. That means we will have to push the story on acromantula mating habits though…” Luna trailed off. Everyone was used to Luna’s scattered attention span. “I do hope the new story is more exciting than that, but I don’t know how it could be.” 

“We’ll tell you about it soon,” Ginny plied, glancing at Harry, prompting the whole table look at him too. 

“You lot will have to wait too,” Harry snapped at the curious faces looking at him from the kitchen table. Kreature and Winky were washing dishes while Harry ate with his friends, the two house elves were quietly bickering over who did more of the washing. 

As the group filtered out to go about their day, Neville to a field in Northern Scotland to look for a rare plant and Ron and Hermione to her parent’s house. Hermione had repaired their memories, but there were still some side effects like short term memory deficits, but more than that, Hermione was still trying to repair the relationship with them. Luna was the last to leave, headed to her office to work on the new edition of the Quibbler. Harry and Ginny secluded themselves to Harry’s study, where they had ended up the night before and where all of the plans were. Harry, ever paranoid, even in a house of friends, took the wards down just long enough for Ginny and himself to enter and then put them back up, as well as a charm on the front door to warn him if anyone came home. Ginny rolled her eyes, “Aurors,” she muttered under her breath. 

Together Ginny and Harry were piecing together what would be on the cover pages of their issue of the Quibbler. They had decided one side would have Ginny’s story, and the other would have Harry’s, along with photoshoots for both. 

Ginny’s headline read, “Harry Potter, my Best Man. Not my Groom an essay by Ginny Weasley.” When you flipped the paper over and upside down, Harry’s headline read, “Out and Proud an essay by Harry Potter.” Ginny had spent almost an hour trying to convince Harry to come up with something wittier, but Harry wanted something that could not be misunderstood. Ginny owled Luna at the office to send a staff photographer to meet them at a park near the house. 

During the shoot, Ginny made plans with the photographer for him to come back before eight this evening, but to not tell Luna about it, she would pay him separately. He seemed a little star struck, but managed to agree, and Harry and Ginny moved on to part two of their plan. Harry went to the store to buy as many yellow flowers as he could find and ribbons for decorations, while Ginny sorted out decorating the garden with white Christmas lights. 

By seven that evening, the back garden looked like a fairy wonderland and Harry was exhausted. Ginny went to go clean up, and Harry stood guard to make sure no one went out there. He also coordinated with Winky and Kreature, to get a celebratory meal and drinks together. Before eight the photographer showed up, and Harry showed him where to stage for the photographs, then went back to his post. At 7:45, Ginny came down, her hands flumbling with a black jewelry box. 

“Alright,” Harry said, “Let’s see how you clean up.” He said jokingly, and Ginny laughed and twirled. He knew she was nervous, but also knew she had no reason to be. 

She looked into the garden. It was shining with lights that were charmed to float in the air, lightly swaying in the breeze. 

“So the game plan.” Harry prompted. “I’ll wait out there, and when Luna gets home, I’ll send her out to you. The photographer is already staged out there to get a good shot.”

Ginny nodded, fidgeted with her shirt, and then headed out. 

Within minutes, Luna walked in from the fireplace.

“Hey Luna!” Harry called out, his voice overly cheery. Luna breezed up to him. 

“Hello Harry,” Luna said airily, “You seem off, nargles bothering you again?” 

“Nope, not at all, there’s a surprise waiting for you in the garden.” It was just then that Luna noticed the lights and flowers that could be clearly seen from the window. 

Luna raised her eyebrows, but simply turned her gaze to the garden doors and began to float in the direction of the garden. The last glimpse Harry had when she slipped out the door was of Ginny in her dark jeans and leather jacket and Luna in her pale flowing dress meeting in the middle of the garden hands clasped.


	4. Chapter 4

Later that night, friends and family gathered in the kitchen drinking Ogden’s Firewhiskey and Butterbeer. Luna was showing off her ring, a gold band with foliage details wrapped around a emerald, while someone finally convinced Harry to pull out the proofs of the magazine and were giving seriously unhelpful commentary. Everyone was really impressed by the editions though. Ginny’s article held a few blank spaces for the engagement photos which should be ready the next day. Harry had a nervous buzz in his stomach. In a week’s time, the edition would be published, and the world would know. More importantly though, Draco would know. This was his grand gesture. If Draco wouldn’t take his owls then he would have to face him somehow. He knew for the wizarding world, this would just be an article about his coming out, but for Draco, it would be a declaration of his feelings. Harry specifically said in the article that he liked someone special and was hoping to make things more official with. The ball would be in Draco’s court then. 

***

Harry was pacing in front of the fire place with the magazine in his hands. He was flipping it back and forth, his face and Ginny’s flashing before his eyes. Ron clapped him on the shoulder as he headed through the floo without saying anything, Hermione squeezed his hand, Ginny was already at training for the week, and Neville was on a research trip with his nocturnal plants class. If Harry didn’t leave in the next few minutes, he would be late. He knew there would be people waiting for him at the office, and today, of all days would definitely notice if he was late. 

Luna skipped up behind him cheerfully, “Harry, we’re printing another round of the edition. The first has already sold out. I just got the owl.” 

“That’s great Luna,” Harry said hollowly. She entered the floo and called the address of her office before disappearing into the green flames. It was now or never, and it was too late to call in sick, so Harry grabbed some floo powder and walked into the fireplace. After the twists and turns of the floo network, Harry stepped out into the atrium of the Ministry of Magic. The buzz of gossip was a cacophony of noise that suddenly stopped as if someone had cast a muffliato spell on the room. The silence was deafening. As if the stares from the employees weren’t enough, his own face smiled from the cover the magazine in almost everyone’s hand. 

Around every corner as he walked to his office, he encounters even more awkward glances and curious stares from other witches and wizards. Harry kept his face neutral and nodded to those who smiled at him. By the time he made it to his office, he collapsed into his chair and thudded his head onto his desk. Moments later, the door opened, Ron walked in and shut the door behind him with his boot. He had two mugs of tea in his hands, and case files tucked under his arm. 

“Mate, you’re gonna have to put your game face on. We have meetings all morning. We have to debrief the last three cases, including a potions case.” Ron had been the last of his friends to come around to the idea of him and Draco, which was not surprising. Ron had finally stopped calling Draco a ferret, small steps, Harry thought. 

The moment that Ron and Malfoy began to bury the hatchet, was one of his favorite memories. It was the third case that Draco was helping them work. Ron and Harry were staying late, and going though potential ringleaders, anyone that had been in the business in the last few years. Draco was there, he had recently identified the substances that were known or suspected to be attributed to each suspect. Ron mumbled something about muggle drugs. Draco stopped what he was doing, looked at Ron with wide eyes and yelled, “Ron! You’re a genius!” Then he dashed out of the room. When he came back, be had a suspect file, and the case was closed in three days. After that, Ron and Malfoy treated each other with a mutual respect, somedays it was harder for them than others, but for the most part, things were definitely much improved, especially for Harry who had to be a mediator for the two of them. 

A month later, after closing another case, Ron said “I guess he’s alright,” as Draco was leaving the office. After that night, Harry took Draco to the pub and wound up on the floor.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco's POV

On the other side of London, while Harry was sitting in the first of many meetings of that day, Draco was sitting at his kitchen table staring at Harry’s face. At first, he wanted to toss the entire volume in the bin, but something stopped him. So he sat here, just staring at the cover. He knew that this was for him. He knew deep down, as a universal truth, that Harry did this for him. Draco, had been out since he the end of the war. His father went to prison, he became the controller of the Malfoy Estate, he and his mother decided to sell the property, his mother moved to one of their properties in a quiet magic village in the south of France, with the permission of the Ministry’s parole board. 

Draco became a potions master, and opened a private shop on his new property outside London, and then soon after became a consultant with the ministry. 

His friendship with Harry began about nine months ago, and pretty soon, Draco knew it wasn’t just a friendship for him. He knew he had feelings for the bespectacled git, but he also knew Harry was still with Ginny, so Draco decided that finally being friends with Harry would be enough for him. Until two weeks ago when Harry tried to kiss him, and Draco’s world was tipped sideways. 

Draco left the bar, and rejected every one of Harry’s owls for several days. Every time Harry’s owl came to Draco’s window, Draco was furious. Harry wasn’t going to make some drunken move after too much firewhiskey, then give some half-baked apology. That was until Harry stopped sending owls, which was even worse. Did that mean that he didn’t care? 

The endless circles his mind was going through were excruciating. For the last two weeks Draco has thrown himself into his work, spending countless hours in his lab, and the other hours working on his files of suspect connections, doing all he could without actually setting foot in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. 

When Draco woke up this morning, he did not imagine his morning going this way, and he still hasn’t brought himself to read more than the covers of the magazine. He intended on running a few errands before going to the office early, so he was walking in Diagon Alley when his ears picked up fragments of the conversations going on around him. 

“…Harry Potter…”

“…the wedding is this summer…”

“…I’m just so shocked…”

“…did anyone know…”

“…gay…”

When he first started listening, he assumed that Harry had announced his engagement and wedding plans to Ginny Weasley, and he began a bitter diatribe silently in his head, but when he heard that one word, “gay,” he stopped. He literally stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, an older couple murmured complaints against him as they narrowly avoided walking into him. Draco collected himself, walked to the nearest newsstand, saw the Quibbler, purchased one without daring to read it in public for fear his face might reveal more than he wanted to be known, turned around and promptly found an apparition point and apparated home. Once he was in his kitchen he looked at Ginny’s face first. Then, he read the headline “Harry Potter, my Best Man. Not My Groom.”

Draco nearly collapsed into the first chair he could find. It took every ounce of self-restraint to not start laughing, or crying, or screaming when he read it. He cautiously flipped the edition in his hands, and saw Harry’s green eyes before he saw anything else, but he couldn’t resist the bold words above his face, “Out and Proud.” 

Draco felt like all the oxygen had been removed from the room. He stood up and paced, then went for a walk in the garden, leaving the volume on the table. 

That was an hour ago, he knew the clock was ticking towards the time when he would have to refresh himself and face Harry in a ministry meeting, where Harry would no doubt expect some sort of reaction from him, so he bloody well go ahead and read the article while he was still in the privacy of his home, and had some time to process whatever lay between the two covers. 

He read Ginny’s article first. He balked when he realized how long she and Harry had been broken up. He was happy for her and Luna, mostly Luna, he had been fond of her ever since the war. He had tried his best to help her in the dungeons, and she had repaid his kindness right after the war when he had no one to talk to. 

He then spent some time trying to think back to the last nine months of conversations and remember every time Harry mentioned Ginny. All he could think recall were mentions of quidditch matches, birthday celebrations, and time spent at the Weasley family home, The Burrow, but nothing else came to mind. He looked at the photos. Ginny and Luna looked like the perfect couple. From what he knew of Ginny, she would be a good match with Luna. 

When he finished her article, then he turned the magazine over to Harry’s side. He turned to the article, but allowed himself to look at the photos first. Harry took just some standard feature photos, he looked like he was in a good mood the day they were taken. He was laughing in one photo, which Draco could tell was his laugh from an inside joke, Draco knew because he had a few of those with Harry himself. 

He began to slowly read the article. He let the emotions he was feeling wash over him. Harry and Ginny had been broken up for so long. Harry had known he was gay for almost that long. Now though, Harry was out, to everyone. Every gay wizard would be lining up to have a shot with Harry. Then Draco got to the last paragraph. Harry had feelings for someone. The only way Draco would know, is if he spoke with him. 

He stood from the table, looked down at his outfit. This would simply not do. If he was going to gather the courage he needed to face this conversation, he would need an outfit to help him. He made his way to his closet and perused his options. He chose his favorite charcoal grey suit with a crisp white shirt and a periwinkle tie. He carefully selected his cufflinks and tie clip. 

He made his way to his floo to travel directly to the Minstry office.


	6. Chapter 6

Ron may have been the only person in the meeting to notice the palpable tension between Harry and Draco. While the three men usually sat together, Harry at the head of the table, Ron on his right, and Draco on the left. Today, when Draco came in, he sat two seats away from Harry, and was unusually quiet, only speaking when prompted. Ron could see Harry’s eyes darting to Draco when he wasn’t looking and Draco’s eyes darting to Harry when he wasn’t looking. Honestly, it was the most interesting meeting Ron had ever been in in his years at the DMLE. 

When the meeting was over, the higher ups left the conference room. Draco sat stiffly at the table, stacking his files, Ron was quick to leave the room, he patted Harry’s shoulder, “Good luck mate,” he said with a chuckle, happy that he was not needed for this particular conversation. 

Draco stopped fidgeting with his folders, there was nothing more to be done to organize them. He turned to Harry, who was just looking at him. Harry’s bright green eyes bore into him sending a shiver up his spine. Draco shook his head, “Not here,” was all he could manage. He swallowed, then around the lump in his throat said, “Are you free for a late lunch?”

Harry nodded, “I now a place. It’s muggle, I can probably get us there without any reporters following us.” 

“Okay,” Draco said nodding. 

Harry stood up, grabbed a mountain of folders, and tilted his head towards his office. He set the folders on his desk, while Draco leaned against the doorframe. 

“Ron, I’m, er, taking a late lunch. Let me know if you need me.” 

“Will do,” Ron said with a smirk. Draco rolled his eyes at the two. Thick as thieves the two of them, they always would be. 

Harry led the way out of the office and to the lift. “We’ll floo to my place, there’s a really good Thai place around the corner from there. Is that okay?” 

They were in the lift and actually alone for the first time, with the exception of a few memo paper planes. Draco’s words caught in his throat. All he could do was stare at Harry. He took an involuntary step towards Harry. Apparently, that was all it took. It was like the walls between them suddenly fell. Harry’s hands went to Draco’s waist, and Draco’s went to Harry’s shoulder. They were toe to toe and nose to nose. 

Harry, looked into Draco’s stormy grey eyes and raised his eyebrows in question. 

“Yes,” Draco’s response came out in a rushed whisper. 

Their lips met, softly, just once, then the lift stopped and they stepped away. And just once was perfect, for now. They exited the lift and walked side by side to the floos. 

Harry could feel the eyes of many curious onlookers, but he walked on. They got to the floos, Draco had been to Harry’s place before so he knew the address. They entered Grimmauld Place the living room. Harry removed his auror cloak and tossed it over an armchair. He was wearing a black henley shirt pushed up his forearms and dark wash jeans that were worn and ripped with his heavy work boots. Harry looked down at his clothes and then to Draco and laughed nervously, “I feel underdressed.”

“You look like you. I’ve only seen you dressed up in court, and you definitely don’t look like you’re enjoying yourself when you’re there.”

“Well you’re certainly right about that. I don’t love wearing a tie, but I don’t look as good as you in them.” 

Draco laughed, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you flirt, Harry Potter, there might be a chance for you yet.” Harry smiled a shy smile, and Draco felt a small balloon of hope in his chest. He was afraid the rest of the afternoon was going to be full of awkward silences, but it seemed their friendship is conquering those troubles. 

“You want to head to the restaurant?” Harry asked. 

“Yes, I actually haven’t eaten today. I got slightly distracted on my way to get breakfast, some news story, or so I’m told,” Draco quipped. 

“Luna’s excited. She found out before she even left for work this morning that they were printing another round of the edition,” Harry seemed happy to report. “I’m glad to help her out when I can, but the attention is just… a lot. You should’ve seen the atrium this morning, it’s like I walked in naked, the reaction I got. Everyone stared.” 

The pair walked out of the house, and down the stairs. “This way,” Harry guided and headed towards the left. They walked for a few blocks and then placed his hand on Draco’s lower back and steered him towards the entrance of a small restaurant. Draco felt a shock of pleasure at the familiar touch. 

It had been years since Draco had a lasting relationship. For the last year, he had been on a few dates. He had definitely exaggerated his dates and maybe even their frequency to Harry. He wasn’t quite sure why he did it. Mostly he just didn’t want Harry to see him as undesirable as the rest of the world did. The faded grey brand he let a psychopath put on his arm deterred most suitors. No number of posh suits, or upscale restaurants could convince some of the wizarding world to go on a first date, much less a second and third one, because of this. For the most part though, this didn’t bother Draco, but something twisted in his stomach every time Harry talked about spending the weekend at the Burrow, or Ginny flying brilliantly after a match. He wanted Harry to think he had it better, he wasn’t tied down, and he was having amazing nights with countless blokes. He didn’t need a mind healer to walk him through why he felt that he needed to lie to Harry, he was just wishing he hadn’t now. 

They slipped across from each other in a booth away from the window. Harry handed Draco a menu, and sat one in front of him, opened it, and then shut it a second later. Draco took his time looking over the menu, but ultimately selected his favorite green curry. He knew that Harry would get chicken pad Thai. 

They placed their order, then Harry posed a question that he had asked over two years ago, in a different restaurant, but this time with more hope, “So, what now?”


	7. Chapter 7

It was a warm summer day, and with Harry stood to the right of the alter and looked down the aisle to see all the heads turning and looking back towards the Burrow. Arthur was exiting the back door with Ginny on his arm. She was wearing a one shouldered cream-colored dress. Her hair was braided to one side with curls lose and flowers tucked in along the long braid. She held a small bouquet that her mother had put together with Fleur this morning. 

She made it to the front and kissed her father on the cheek and then turned to face the Burrow herself. Xenophilius Lovegood emerged next with Luna on his arm. Luna’s dress was flowing with colored flowers stitched into the top layer. Harry was seeing her for the first time, having spent the morning drinking champagne with Ginny. Her long hair was loose, flowing down to her waist, with a flower crown atop her head. She was practically floating down the aisle, humming along with the band that played. She was holding a matching bouquet, but Molly had added blue flowers, forget-me-nots, for Luna’s mother into the mix. 

As the ceremony starts, Harry turned to the and scanned the crowd until he found the face he was looking for, Draco. They had been dating for about six months now, and it was the happiest that Harry had ever been. He smiled when he caught Draco’s eye, and then gave a wink. Harry could see that Draco laughed and then shook his head, then tilted his head towards the brides. Harry smiled and turned his focus back. He was thrilled with how easily Draco had been folded into his life. His friends all accepted him, because they had known for a while how Harry had felt, and were all happy that he was happy. Game nights were becoming a regular occurrence with the couples teaming up. Draco was such a regular fixture at Grimmauld Place, he and Harry were talking about expanding Harry’s room so that they could have the room that they would need if Draco were to move in, and Draco had very specific requirements about the closet, and the bathroom, and color scheme. 

His second family, the Weasleys, came around to Draco as well. One night, a few months ago, Harry and Draco went over to have dinner with just Molly and Arthur. By the end of the night, it was clear Molly had him down as the next sweater she was going to make, pressing him for his favorite color as he was walking out the door. Harry was sure there would be a blue sweater with a “D” knitted into it on Christmas morning. As for Arthur, he was won over by two factors: one, Draco has moved so far past his former mistakes and was nothing like his father as Harry knew Arthur feared, and two, the two had a lively conversation about the wonders of the telly. 

Everything changed for Harry the day his coming out was published in the Quibbler. He didn’t just gain freedom, to be his self, and to love who he wanted, he was able to finally hold the man that he loved. They took their relationship in a series of small steps. They went on quiet dates at first, mostly in muggle London, then they told their friends and family. The next step took their very public, which was what Harry feared most, but for Draco, they had already moved past the hardest step. One night, about three months ago, laying facing the wall with Harry curled around his back, he whispered, “I love you,” into the night. The seconds that it took for Harry to respond were the longest moments he could remember in a long time. 

Harry kissed Draco’s shoulder and breathed out, “I love you, Draco.” Draco and Harry both knew that, in that moment, Draco knew he could let go of the fear he had been holding on to for the longest time. He was not unlovable. He was not too much, and he was enough, and Harry was the one who would hold him through any moment of doubt. 

As the ceremony ended and the night rolled into a lively party, Harry and Draco were dancing in the middle of the floor with the rest of their friends. Harry was happy that Pansy was here, it was Draco’s first official full scale Burrow night and he could definitely use the moral support of his best friend. Pansy was one of the traveling journalists that frequently wrote for Luna, and after making amends for her actions in the war, including a certain declaration to give Harry over to Voldemort, gave Harry a thorough interrogation about his motives for Draco’s heart. 

Harry and Draco’s relationship wasn’t perfect, far from it, but it was theirs. In the warm summer air, holding each other, this night was just that, perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> Title based on the song "Call Your Girlfriend" by Robyn.
> 
> Dedicated to my favorite Slytherin.


End file.
